Confuzzling Snickers Ad: Men Are Sexist Pigs Except When Hungry

For their latest commercial, Snickers had Australian construction workers catcall female passersby with empowering statements, rather than the boilerplate street harassment ones. The conceit is when these dudes are “not themselves,” i.e. hungry for a Snickers, they’re…better people?

First of all, the statements start out as pretty harassing, even if they aren’t the worst that you and I have probably heard on the street. In the opening seconds, the men yell, “Hey darling, you have yourself a lovely day,” and “Hey, that color really works on you.” I guess the latter statement is supposed to be softened by, “Have a productive day,” but I don’t know, it still sounds like some rude strangers telling a woman to smile.

Perhaps these initial remarks are supposed to misdirect us for when the punchline comes: “You want to hear a filthy word? Gender bias!” Unfortunately, these women look terrified to have people they don’t know threateningly yelling these messages a them, even if they are refreshing for once. In this context, “I’d like to show you the respect you deserve!” will always sound dirty.

The ad is bookended by slides bearing the words (sorry, don’t know the technical term), “What happens when builders aren’t themselves?” and, “You’re not you when you’re hungry.” This makes me wonder if Snickers’ target audience is male chauvinist pigs? Why produce a commercial that says, “If you have our product on hand, you won’t be so deliriously hungry that you actually respect women,” and then try to couch it as empowerment?